Railroad cars are widely used in the United States and other countries to transport vehicles such as automobiles and trucks from manufacturing plants to distribution centers. Such railroad cars are referred to in the trade as auto rack cars.
The railroad cars include a first deck or floor and a pair of side walls which, if desired, support at least one, and often two, elevated decks. Additionally, a roof is generally included to protect the vehicles against damage. The decks carry lined-up tied down vehicles.
Blunden U.S. Pat. No. 3,426,704 discloses a triple deck open topped railroad car for carrying vehicles. Each side of the car has a plurality of vertically positioned horizontally spaced apart columns or uprights which are joined to the car underframe side sills. These columns support the elevated second and third decks. To strengthen the side walls brace bays are located between two adjacent columns near each end of each side of the car. The brace bay shown in the Blunden patent, FIG. 1, has a pair of diagonal braces, arranged to form an X, located between the first or lower deck and the first elevated deck above it. The ends of these braces are effectively joined to the two adjacent columns. No details of the braces is supplied but it is likely they were heavy steel channel members.
Later it was determined that the brace bay system shown in Blunden U.S. Pat. No. 3,426,704 could be advantageously supplemented by installing an additional X-brace system directly above the original one and between the second and third decks. Cars having brace bays with such double X bracing systems have been in commercial use for some years and have performed well. The heavy channel members used for the bracing, however, introduces weight to the car. More importantly, it increases labor and material costs and manufacturing time. A need accordingly exists for a vehicle transporting railroad car with a better brace system which provides the necessary strength yet reduces costs in material, labor and manufacturing.